Visconti Tarot Deck (Visconti Tarot, 1) Cards – September 8, 2000

Absolutely beautiful artwork. The foil is beautiful. Feel nice in your hands. Would have loved it even more if the foil was on both sides. That makes shuffling easier, for me anyway.

- The Visconti Tarot deck is stunningly rendered on quality card-stock in full colour, with a patterned gold foil background on all the Major Arcana and Court Cards. The beauty of this deck is truly astonishing. Even the cards of the minor arcana have lovely illustrations with gold foil highlights. The deck size is somewhat longer than a normal playing-cards deck, but not unmanageable for shuffling, etc. And the size does lend the entire deck an appearance of something extraordinary - even before one reveals the faces of the cards.- There are a number of reasons I chose this deck. After looking through literally hundreds of different styles of Tarot from across a half-dozen websites, I ordered this one for its colourfully intense and faithfully rendered early Renaissance artwork because I specifically want to use the deck in the context of historic reenactment events and themed parties, etc. The black background and muted colors of the symmetrical period illustration on the back of each card is lovely, yet not distracting, and it makes for a very dramatic contrast with the intense beauty of the colours and metallic gold that will naturally draw the eye when the card is revealed.- NOTE: The fact that this deck is patterned on an original Renaissance deck does mean that the minor arcana cards are all beautifully - but simply - rendered with just the number and the symbols of the four suits: Wands, Cups, Pentacles and Swords. This means they do not have the more imaginative images in the minor arcana for both the querent and the Tarot reader to key-in on when looking at a spread. It's my understanding this was the period way many early Tarot decks were rendered, however, it may prove challenging at first for someone used to more modern tarot decks. That being said, I don't believe it should deter someone from purchasing the Visconti Tarot. It may simply require more study to familiarize oneself with the meanings of the various numbers and suits of the minor arcana, without the help of the illustrations - just as any Tarot Reader would have had to do in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. And I believe the truly stunning look and feel of this deck will more than make up for that challenge, which in the end would likely improve one's overall understanding of the Tarot - whether they are a novice or a longtime practitioner.- In conclusion, I would like to thank those who specifically posted the correct ISBN numbers for this superior rendering of the Visconti deck as: ISBN-10: 0738700193. After looking at so many different decks and reading so many and varied reviews, it was very nice to have some specificity to be confident that I was ordering the deck I had read about.

The media could not be loaded. I love the gold details on this deck! And they are pretty much standard tarot card size (a wee bit narrower), so they are easy to shuffle and handle! They’re pretty good when it comes to sliding well/not sticking together too! I have another version of this, but the cards are huge, so they are difficult to shuffle and handle. These are perfect! Only minus in my book is the cheap-ass tuck box, because I know it will not last that well. Even though it looks good with gold foil as well, I would prefer a styrdy 2-piece carton box for longevity.

This historic gilded deck is gorgeous and has become one of my favorites.

This is a famous set of cards that no Tarot collection would be complete without, but it is my least favorite personally. My interest in the Tarot is all in the symbolism, and unfortunately this deck has very little compared to others. Many of the details you normally see on Tarot cards were sacrificed in favor of pure decoration in the form of gilding. It is pretty and definitely screams "I'm rich" if you live in the 1450s, but of course all that gilding took up space that would be filled with interesting symbolism in other decks. So as a pure collection piece and a piece of history, it's a great deck. It is also a very good deck if you actually intend to use them as playing cards as was their original purpose, but if you are a student of symbology or if you fancy yourself a fortune teller, the lack of visual content in this deck is a detractor, and you would do better with a more traditional deck. If you want to use them as playing cards, just be aware that the gilding is so bright that it can make them hard to see in direct sunlight.

I come from a rather new background in the Tarot, with only a few months worth of experience in reading with the standard Rider-Waite. Hence, I will not be able to comment on the finer nuances (if any) of the divinatory aspects of the deck. Having said that, in the interest of someone as inexperienced in the Tarot as I am, I will mention this: this deck has non-illustrated minors ("non-scenic pips", as they're called, I believe), and therefore uses a completely different paradigm for interpretation compared to the standard RW. This might be a deal-breaker for many; indeed, it almost was for me.The artwork, of course, is absolutely gorgeous, and a delight to look at. The colours used are quite vivid, with an abundance of gold accents. I've been told by many that there are other versions of this deck available with more muted palettes (and for some, that translates to more evocative imagery), but the brightness of this one suits my tastes just fine.However, the reason why I gave this product a 4 was the quality of the cards, which I found to be much flimsier than my Rider-Waite. When stacked side by side, the Rider Waite is a full centimeter thicker than this one. I guess I'll have to be really careful while shuffling this since I don't think these cards will be able to take much abuse.

This is a nice deck and in pretty good condition. I was worried when I first opened it and there were two cards in the box that were not from this deck. I always check decks to be sure all the cards are present and all of them were, but I was certainly nervous for a minute. But, now I have this deck and two extra variant Magus cards from the Crowley deck as well.